The Recruiting Guy

Texas athlete watches Hogs, plan on-campus vist

Tyrell Alexander
Tyrell Alexander

LANCASTER, Texas -- The next time Arkansas plays on campus, highly regarded athlete Tyrell Alexander plans to officially visit the Hogs.

Arkansas will play Auburn on Oct. 24, and the Razorbacks are expected to host several prospects on visits, including Alexander.

Alexander, 6-2, 178 pounds, 4.41 seconds in the 40-yard dash, of Lancaster, Texas, and has approximately 16 scholarship offers, including ones from Arkansas, Tennessee, Arizona State, TCU, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech.

Defensive backs coach Clay Jennings is his lead recruiter at Arkansas.

"I hear from him every week," said Alexander, who has a 3.8 grade point average. "He checks on me and I'm kind of building a relationship with [linebackers] coach [Vernon] Hargreaves."

Alexander placed sixth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.27 seconds at the Class 5A state track and field meet in the spring. He also had a best of 37.00 seconds in the 300 hurdles.

A four-star prospect as rated by national recruiting analyst Tom Lemming of CBS Sports Network, Alexander completed 49 of 93 passes for 819 yards and 12 touchdowns as a junior. He also had 158 carries for 1,152 yards and 15 touchdowns.

The Hogs are recruiting him as a cornerback and possibly to return kicks.

"He likes my height and my speed and how I'm dynamic on the field," Alexander said of Jennings. "He feels like I can make the transition up there and help them out on defense."

Alexander attended the Arkansas-Texas A&M game last week as a Hogs recruit. He also plans to officially visit Tennessee. He plans to visit Oklahoma State, where he was once committed, for a game and is also talking to Florida about a trip.

Alexander also said his mother, Sahacqulin, is confident her son can make the right decision for himself.

"She feels like I'm good enough to make my own decision, but she's kind of in my ear about the location of a school and how far it is," Alexander said. "She basically doesn't want me too far from home."

Alexander has 13 rushes for 57 yards and 3 touchdowns and 14 receptions for 154 yards in five games this season. Courtney Allen, Lancaster defensive tackles coach and recruiting coordinator, said Alexander is a jack-of-all-trades for the Tigers.

"Tyrell is a very dynamic and explosive player, a very smart player," Allen said. "[He is] able to move around and play so many different positions for us. Quarterback, receiver, he lines up in the backfield and also lines up at cornerback for us."

Allen's praise isn't restricted to the field.

"If you meet Tyrell Alexander and you're not impressed, then something is wrong with you," he said. "He's a guy with impeccable character."

Not deterred

Arkansas receiver commitment Kofi Boateng along with about 50 other prospects attended the Razorbacks' game against Texas A&M at Arlington, Texas, on Saturday night.

Boateng said the Hogs' 28-21 loss to A&M and their 1-3 record doesn't faze him.

"They've been doing all of this without having Keon [Hatcher] and two other receivers and without having Jonathan Williams," Boateng said. "It looks bad from the outside, but from the inside it's really not that bad like people are making it out to be."

Boateng, 6-1, 180, 4.6, of Arlington (Texas) Lamar, had accumulated 30 scholarship offers from schools like Ole Miss, Nebraska, California, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Texas Tech before he committed to Arkansas in August.

He's reached out to two highly recruited prospects, defensive lineman Michael Williams of All Saints Episcopal in Fort Worth and and receiver Tyrie Cleveland of Houston Westfield on Twitter about Arkansas.

He said he likes what he sees from Arkansas offensive coordinator Dan Enos and believes Cleveland, Smackover's Jordan Jones -- another Hogs receiver commitment -- and himself can help.

"He's opening up the playbook and having [Cleveland], me and Jordan out there as receivers that will give Coach Enos even more firepower and he'll probably open it up more with having all three of us out there," Boateng said.

Boateng, who's rated a four-star prospect by national recruiting analyst Tom Lemming of CBS Sports Network, recorded 66 receptions for 1,023 yards and 15 touchdowns as a junior. He has 11 catches for 217 yards and 4 touchdowns in four games this season.

One of the greatest attributes a receiver can have is great hands. Lamar Coach Leban Delay has coached for 22 years and said Boateng is unique.

"I haven't come across a guy that has stronger hands," Delay said. "I've seen him catch a ball around a defender so the defender is between him and the ball, and then they land and then the defender is trying to break away, but he won't let him break away because he has a death grip on the ball."

Boateng is also dangerous in the open field.

"He has that knack to make people miss and once he cuts he can go," Delay said. "He doesn't have a 4.1 [time in the 40-yard dash], but at the same time he was on our all our relay teams in track. The guy can run."

E-mail Richard Davenport at rdavenport@arkansasonline.com

Sports on 09/29/2015

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